Buchholz’s outing a cause for alarm

If you think it’s Clay Buchholz, then well, seven runs and nine hits over four innings plus isn’t going to cut it. He has pitched good innings, shown good stuff, throwing in the 95-mile-per-hour range, but he threw some balls yesterday that moved right over the plate. He was tagged for two homers and allowed six runs in the third inning.

This is no longer player development. Buchholz will be 25 years old Aug. 14 and we’ve yet to see signs that he can be a seven-plus-inning pitcher and be a factor down the stretch. We haven’t seen that from John Smoltz, who didn’t pitch well but got the win Friday night, and we haven’t seen it very often from Brad Penny, who is 7-5 with a lofty 5.07 ERA.

It’s no secret the Sox must have felt the same uneasiness at the trading deadline because they did make bids for Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, and inquired about Felix Hernandez. None of it worked out, so they concentrated on bolstering the lineup by adding Martinez, who has improved the offense as advertised.

You wonder if they’ll come to regret not dealing for a pitcher. In their last starts, Buchholz, Penny, and Smoltz have combined for 15 innings, 24 hits, and 19 earned runs.

However, while the Sox are searching, they are still in a fairly good spot and with time to straighten this out.

Although the Yankees were criticized for sticking with Sergio Mitre as their No. 5 starter and not making a better bid to acquire Jarrod Washburn, they have four other starters who are pitching much better than Boston’s top four.

Certainly Buchholz’s tough outing might have been slightly different had Mike Lowell’s range been better and he could have grabbed Felix Pie’s grounder in the hole in the third. But what came after that was Buchholz’s responsibility, and he allowed some hard-hit balls.

The Sox bailed him out by scoring seven runs the next inning, but Buchholz started the fifth by allowing a solo shot to Adam Jones, a walk, and a single. There was absolutely no point in leaving him in the game.